His Excellency Mr.
Omar Alkurdi,
Minister of Information and
Communications Technology |
Regulatory
Framework
Enabling Environment
Advancement
Programs
Capital and
Finance
Human Resources
Development
As recently as the 1980s one third of the GDP of
Jordan came in the form of expatriate income. Because
of their excellent education and noble work ethic
Jordanians in search of a better life have long
been forced to go elsewhere. This lifeblood, flowing
from afar, along with huge amount amounts of foreign
aid is what has sustained Jordan for so many years.
In response to a challenge put forward by his Majesty
King Abdullah II in 1999, seeking private sector
leadership in developing Jordan’s IT sector,
a project called the REACH initiative, created by
the recently renamed Ministry of Information and
Communications Technology, set as a goal the creation
of thirty thousand IT related jobs in Jordan, $550
million of export, and the possible acquisition
of $150 million in foreign direct investment (FDI).
As with Tunisia, 1500 miles and a half a continent
to the west, Jordan is a small country virtually
devoid of oil, yet abutting huge petrol states.
Both nations have to find innovative ways to survive
economically. Because neighboring states such as
Saudi Arabia are such large consumers of technology,
especially in products related to the oil and water
sectors, Rimawi believes that Jordan must actively
become a major tech supplier—making the next
seismic analysis software, and the next water treatment
and desalination programs.
Five years after laying down theses goals, the
targets have not been met, however the progress
has been nonetheless significant—seeing the
creation of 16 thousand jobs, $440 million in exports
and the realization of $90 million in foreign direct
investment. "If you compare that to where we
were only a few years ago, you see a real jump,"
said Sabri Tabbaa, Chief Executive Officer of int@j,
a voluntary non-profit association charged with
promoting Jordanian software and IT services globally.
Jordan, where English is widely spoken, should be
the near-shore alternative for IT services according
to Tabbaa. "We don’t have natural resources.
We are not rich in oil. The greatest natural resource
we have is our human element, and to not build upon
our 91 percent literacy rate, in a sector that is
100 percent dependent on this, we would have to
be completely out of our minds."
In contrast to mining, real estate, and other such
activities, Jordan’s IT sector offers the greatest
opportunity for growth. The penetration rate for
cellular telephones stands at 66 percent, while
Internet usage is one-tenth that. When one looks
a country like Finland, where nearly the entire
population is in possession of a cellular telephone,
Jordan still has tremendous room for growth.
Although most of the exports, at present, are in
the form of hardware that is being resold, an increasingly
greater share is coming in the form of intellectual
property via services or locally developed products.
According to Ennis Rimawi, and a leading figure
in Jordanian Information Technology, the nation
has more IT professionals per capita than India;
however, because it is so small, it simply doesn’t
register on people’s radar. "Increasingly
it is creating the middle class here," said
Rimawi. "Wages in this sector are, on average,
four times the average wage." However what
Rimawi would most like to see happen is the marriage
between industry and innovation. Jordan possesses
top-notch educational faculties, the majority of
whom have studied abroad, yet they remain consigned
to teaching. "What we need to do is unite that
technology ability with the industrial side. Just
as companies in the US will go all the way to India
to create an R&D center, we need to see more
of that in Jordan."
REACH is a national strategy for Jordan to develop
just such a vibrant, export-oriented IT services
sector, gaining not only regional recognition, but
also internationally recognized IT products and
services. "What I’m saying is that part
of the opportunity is for countries like Jordan
to help play a role in building an industrial vendor
and supply base, that’s employing engineers…
industrial and chemical engineers in support of
these sectors."
In addition to heading his own software development
company, Estarta, Rimawi is managing partner of
Catalyst, a private equity fund that focuses on
investing in companies working in these sectors
within the region, and seeking to form joint ventures
in order to help build the industrial vendor or
supplier base in Jordan. Such activity can be assured
of being conducted atop a strong legal framework.
Said Rimawi, "When Microsoft made its investment
[in Estarta] it wanted a new company law that allowed
for different types of shares. Because of this,
Jordan, within a year, created a new shareholder’s
law."
These strides would be impossible were it not for
the support of the King. According to Rimawi His
Majesty "went out on a limb to support this
sector, and the reason he went out on a limb was
that you don’t see results overnight. From
about 1999 on, he has talked about it a lot, headed
trade missions to places like Silicon Valley, and
he brought Bill Gates to Jordan. By the end of the
day, the reason Microsoft and Cisco even considered
Jordan as a place to invest, was because of the
relationship with the King."
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Jordan 
